Tuesday, October 23, 2012

A cute story!

I once won a
cookie contest with my Cranberry
Shortbread Cookies.

I had decided to
enter into the Chatelaine contest, because my recipe had such a great history
that I thought to share it with the readers. To my astonished delight, my
cookies were picked, if I remember correctly, as winner #3. I still have the
coffee pot, blender and various baking ware as proof.

All 10 winners
were printed in the Chatelaine magazine for the entire world to see, and I’ll
admit to walking around with a puffed up chest for a few days. Now that I
remember, I do believe it was the first time I’d ever seen anything I wrote in
print!

The story goes
that as a new bride, I had moved to northern Canada, to a place called Stewart,
B.C. It was within a few miles of the Alaska border so it was pretty isolated.
In those days (and unfortunately still today) the best meal I could produce was
a killer peanut-butter and banana sandwich. Needless to say, my husband is our
chef and has been since the beginning. My little contribution to our meals is
the dessert.

Understandable,
as a new bride, I had very few recipes and the holiday season was approaching.
So at a bingo game with some other ladies I lamented my terrible lack. An older
Scottish woman, who I thought a real sweetheart, said, “Lassie, I will give you
a true Scottish shortbread recipe handed down from my mother and hers before
her. I’ve kept this to myself for that many years, but I like you. Since you’re
a new bride, I’ll share.”

So saying, she
took a napkin from the table and wrote her shortbread recipe on it. I quickly
rewrote it once I got home and have used the basis of this recipe for many
others

The variety that
won the contest has ½ cup of dried cranberries and ½ cup of pecan pieces added.

To this day, I
get so many compliments on my wonderful cookies that it truly isn’t Christmas
for my family without a plateful of these decorating the table.

**A sequel to
this story is that the woman’s granddaughter, who was a young girl back then, called
me a few weeks after reading the magazine. She told me her name and that she was Peggy's grandaughter and asked me if these were her grandmother’s
cookies. When I said yes she laughed and told me that many years ago her granny
had slowly faded with Alzheimer’s without ever having written her precious recipe
down. By the time her own mother had realized that no one had a copy of the famous shortbread, she couldn’t help
them and so none of the family had the original recipe. Now...they were finally able to have the cookies they had grown up
eating.

To celebrate in this Spooky Blog Hop I will be choosing one winner for a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate and will also gift 5

e-books of my last release called "Roll the Dice".

Back Page Blurb:

“You shot me!” Aurora is incensed. Her new partner
shrugs and answers. “I saved your life.” From the very first page of this
riveting story, these two battle for supremacy in trying to catch the serial
rapist who ripped both their lives apart. With all her might, Aurora fights the
attraction to Kai's baby blues that tease and start her internal warning
devices humming. After all, her job is her life, and determination mixed with
courage has always been her lifeline.

Kai has a mission of honor to undertake. The man
who raped his sister can’t be allowed to live—after all, she hadn’t! Revenge
fills his soul, while visions of his new partner fills his heart. The sassy
woman rattles his calm, and he can’t keep his hands to himself. Doesn’t mean
she has the power to stop him from doing what has to be done.

****

IN ORDER TO HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN A PRIZE, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT WITH YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU.

***I WILL ALSO BE ADDING YOUR NAME TO MY NEWSLETTER LIST, SO IF ANY OF YOU PREFER NOT TO BE ADDED, PLEASE MENTION IT AND I WILL, OF COURSE, RESPECT YOUR WISHES.

****

***One more thing to mention - I will be needing reviews for a promotion that will be coming soon for my new book called "LOVABLE CHRISTMAS ANGEL. Anyone who would be willing to read the book as soon as it's released ( Nov 1st) in order to write an HONEST review, please leave a note with your comment & e-mail address and I will gladly gift you a copy.

Back Page Blurb:

Christmas
in Hawaii! How lucky can a girl get? Except that Leilani is bringing her
mother’s ashes home to Waikiki and is worried sick about an urgent plea of help
from an aunt she never knew existed. Upon her arrival, her taxi driver, a
perfect angel of a man, befriends her, and a special bond starts to grow. His
explanation, that she has won two free nights in prestigious hotel Jordan,
brightens her otherwise rotten day. Getting stuck in an elevator with the
prickly but luscious Kale, she decides things are definitely looking up! Then a
visit to her aunt’s changes her life completely. The sick woman is alive for
only one reason. So she can pass on her most precious possession…her
five-year-old grandson. The same little fellow, who takes one look at Leilani,
slaps his fists on his hips and yells…“Go away!”

Kale couldn’t believe his rotten luck getting stuck in an elevator with a
big-eyed, effusive tourist. As owner of the Jordan Hotel chain, he'd had his
fill of pandering to vacationers. After the day he’d spent breaking up with a
spoilt brat, problem-solving till his head hurt and wanting to be at his beach
house to regain his sanity, the last thing he needed was to have to put up with
Miss Chatty Cathy. That is until her soft heart caught his attention, and she
made herself indispensable to his future happiness.

Roll the Dice sounds great. I love the mysterys! Thanks so much for being a part of the blog hop and for the great giveaway. When the time comes, I would be happy to read Loveable Christmas Angel and leave a review for you.Marlenacharmedpoms(at)yahoo(dot)com

THE COOKIES SOUND GREAT!Hi Great blog. I am entry number 499...I know I was a bit late but I have a great guest a ghost writer http://thebridgeofdeaths.tumblr.com/ and a great giveaway do swing by if you get a chance,M.C.V. Egan

What a great story! So glad to see they can use the recipe again~ I want to try your cranberry ones~ they sound great. :)Your Christmas Angel cover is so pretty! I'd like to not be added to your newsletter at this time, please~ Thank you for the hop!